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Bonzai Network
Bonzai Network (often shortened to Bonzai) is an American pay television network owned by BritCan Global Youth & Adult Media, a division of BritCan Entertainment. Originally marketed as a family-friendly service before refocusing to become a "general, youth-oriented network" in the mid-2000s, Bonzai Network's schedule is currently made up of first-run domestic and acquired television series, as well as feature films and original made-for-cable movies aimed at a family-friendly audience. Most of its lineup is made up of programs devoted to pre-teens and teenagers, while its weekday morning lineup is supplied by preschool-oriented programs. As of January 2016, Bonzai Network is available to approximately 94 million households (80.7% of households with television) in America.1 History Main article: History of Bonzai Network On-air identity/bumpers Bonzai Network's original branding, used during the channel's pre-launch and official launch, was created by BritCan-owned visual effects company BritCan Digital, featuring hand-drawn and CGI graphics in yellow, orange, green, and purple. Sometime in May 2004, a brand new advertising style was developed for the channel's afternoon and primetime lineup, which used a completely new logo and featured more hand-drawn 2D graphics. The new logo first appeared on Bonzai’s promos and even appeared on credits of newer original programming starting in July. On New Years Day of 2006, this look was adapted for the entire channel. The channel rebranded on October 6, 2014, officially adding the word "Network" to its name, receiving a completely new on-air look with a slightly overhauled logo, a new tagline—''Surprisingly Entertaining'', and a new website at BonzaiNetwork.com. The new look was designed by Los Angeles-based agency Oishii Creative, who also worked on the Hub Network 2014 rebrand. On September 1, 2016, Bonzai Network refreshed the channel with a new graphics package called #ExpectTheFun ''(which also became the new channel's slogan). The new graphics package was created by Shilo Designs and featured a multitude. The #ExpectTheFun package received an updated look on March 13, 2017, this time through collaboration with Argentinean animation studio Superestudio. Titled ''#ExpectTheFun 2.0, the upgraded look took a tongue-in-cheek to many rebrands in the past; combining real-life footage with 2D and 3D animation. On September 3, 2018, Bonzai Network rebranded once more with a new branding package designed by Troika Design Group. Programming Main article: List of programs broadcast by Bonzai Network Bonzai Network's current programming features a mix of animated and live-action series geared towards pre-teens and young teenagers, as well as preschool-oriented programs aired within its weekday morning/afternoon block The Nook, and theatrically-released films targeting family audiences. One of the channel's most noteworthy productions up to this date is ''Bunched Up! My Quintuplet Life'', the first series aired and ever produced for the channel. Bunched Up! ''has received high acclaim in ratings, being nominated for 8 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for "Best TV Show" and winning a Daytime Emmy award. It ran from the channel's launch until October 2014, spawning a total of eight seasons and 2 made-for-television films. In recent years, Bonzai Network has began picking up and airing brand new episodes of series that have had unsuccessful runs on other networks (such as ''Backstage ''and ''Wolfblood ''from Disney Channel and ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series from Cartoon Network). Programming blocks Main article: List of program blocks broadcast by Bonzai Network Various types of programs are broadcast on Bonzai Network in programming blocks. By 2006, the channel had already established various timeslots aimed at different age demographics. The shows broadcast during weekday mornings had preschoolers as their target audience and pro-social behavior as a theme, while the afternoon and evening schedule mainly skewed towards its main audience of tweens and teenagers. Related services Current sister services BonzaiToons Network Main article: BonzaiToons Network BonzaiToons Network, or simply BonzaiToons,' '''is a digital cable and satellite television channel aimed at children aged 6–12. Launched as a programming block on Bonzai Network under the title '''Bonzai+' in June of 2000 and as a television channel a year later, the network airs a mix of newer animated series from Bonzai, as well as international cartoons and series exclusive to the channel. On August 28, 2014, after years of suffering ratings and following reports earlier in the year that BritCan Entertainment would realign all of their family channels under the Bonzai brand, Bonzai+ was relaunched as Bonzai TOO on October 13, 2014, featuring a schedule structured exactly like its parent channel. To further broaden its newfound focus on animation, the channel rebranded as BonzaiToons''' on January 29, 2018. '''Bonzai Jr. Main article: Bonzai Jr. Bonzai Jr. '''is a 24-hour spin-off of Bonzai Network featuring original and imported programs aimed explicitly at preschoolers. It originally launched on September 12, 2005, as '''BonBon, a joint venture between Bonzai and Sesame Workshop. As the channel began growing its own slate of originals, Sesame later sold its stake in the venture to BritCan. On September 12, 2014, the channel's ninth anniversary, it rebranded as Bonzai Jr. due to the "Kids and Family" division re-branding under the Bonzai moniker. Past sister services Bonzai XTRM Main article: Bonzai XTRM Bonzai XTRM '''was a digital cable network operated as an action-genre spin-off of Bonzai Network geared towards male audiences. The channel had originally launched October 10, 2004, as '''BXtreme, with its channel space divided into dayparted timeslots that targeted a dual audience; kids and pre-teens in the daytime, and adults during the nighttime (similar to the shared-time format of Bonzai Network and Bonzai@fterDark). On May 5, 2014, as a result of the "Kids and Family" division re-branding under the Bonzai moniker, BNX was revamped as Bonzai XTRM. Due to failing coverage on television providers and massive budget cuts, the Bonzai XTRM brand and accompanying programs were condensed into an SVOD mobile app on June 1, 2017, as the linear network shut down. Bonzai@fterDark Main article: Bonzai@fterDark Bonzai After Dark (stylized as Bonzai@fterDark) was Bonzai Network’s late night programming service. It debuted on April 3, 2006 as Bonzai Primetime, and ran daily from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. EST, with international versions existing in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Asia; Bonzai@fterDark is treated as a separate entity for ratings purposes by Nielsen in the United States (similar to the company's ratings treatment of Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, the now-defunct Nickmom, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim) due to differing target demographics between it and Bonzai Network. Originally consisting of off-network syndicated series and sitcoms from various countries, programming eventually changed to adult animation, black comedy, and select Japanese animation (until 2012) in September 2011, following a new imaging campaign. Due to incredibly low ratings and various cutbacks at BritCan, it was announced that Bonzai@fterDark would shut down by the end of the year. It officially left the air on January 1, 2018, with most of its programming moving over to sibling service TravestyTV. Other services Bonzai Network HD On January 1, 2009, Bonzai Network launched Bonzai Network HD, a 1080i high definition simulcast of Bonzai Network's east-coast feed. The network does not operate a separate HD feed for the west coast. Most of the channel's original programs are produced and broadcast in HD, along with feature films. Bonzai Network on Demand Bonzai Network on Demand is a video-on-demand channel featuring the latest episodes of Bonzai Network programming. Episodes are available in SD widescreen and high-definition, and are separated into two categories; "Kids and Family" and "The Nook Preschool". Bonzai Network GO Bonzai Network GO is a TV Everywhere service available on the App Store and Google Play Store. It is available for all subscribed customers of parent service BritCan To Go and offers episodes of network programming, as well as a livestream service available. The Bonzai Network GO brand also lends its name to a separate SD feed of the mainstream television network available in TV-supported vehicles and airplanes, airing popular series from the channel. The only exclusive branding is ''#ExpectTheFun ''2.0 package, with extended next bumpers featuring the rating of the show. International availability Since the inception of Bonzai Network and its respective sister networks, BritCan Communications has set up various international feeds of all networks, such as Australia and New Zealand, France, Japan, Latin America, Nordic, Philippines, Southeast Asia, and the United Kingdom and Ireland. References 1. "Cable Network Coverage Area Household Universe Estimates: January 2016". Broadcasting & Cable. January 31, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2017. Category:Bonzai Network Category:TV Channels Category:BritCan Communications